What’s new for the new year and a look at independent media
Comics and Conventions 2026
Welcome to 2026! Hopefully, your holidays were filled with warmth and joy.
First up is a quick review. Jason Dube and I started a short, three issue series called Hellforce where Alice from the Dr Dream series meets up with the Shadow Hunters to defeat a demon named Marionette. In November, we launched a Kickstarter to support the project, and it turned out to be the most successful Kickstarter in my career, reaching $1,777! And we’re just getting started.
We are already well underway with the second issue with a draft of the script completed and thumbnails being done by me. I’m really excited for this one, for starters because of the response from issue 1 but also this story is going to lean into my Sacramento roots. My goal is to have this one launch in November 2027. And because it’s based in Sacramento, I’m working on some personal appearances in addition to my two conventions (see below) planned for 2026. More details to follow soon.
For the 4th year, I will be headed to Reno for Silver Age Comic Con 2026! Accompanying me will be Bez Krila who will be on hand with their own prints, winks, and will be more than happy to sign Hellforce: Marionette books of which they did the original cover.
And in October, Ohana Con should be returning to Blue Lake Casino, and I’ll be there for that one as well.
Probably the biggest news for this year is that 2026 marks Scattered Comics’ 36th year anniversary! Crazy, I know. Well, a new anniversary deserves a new logo, so here it is!
Pretty cool, huh? And we’ve got new books arriving starting with an awesome art collection called Blood, Beasts, and Babes Vol 2: A collection of Shadow Hunter’s artwork coming to Kickstarter. So many amazing artists have contributed to the series over the years having all of that talent collected into one book is a must have for Shadow Hunters and comic fans alike. Click on the link to get notified and check out Jason’s Friday Night Live Draw on his YouTube channel! Also, be sure to subscribe to his Patreon to support his work and get sneak peeks for upcoming books and projects.
James Burton’s Ballad of Nod #3 should be out this year as well, and if you haven’t subscribe to his Substack, well , make it a New Year’s resolution to do so. He also gives drawing updates on his YouTube channel, and you can check that out here: https://www.youtube.com/@JamesBurtonAngrybrainartworks
In addition, I’ve designed a Scattered Comics t-shirt which I’ll reveal in the next posting and how you can get yours! And now onto the topic I meant for 2024, but, well, things happen…
Support independent media
Some of you may know that I was a teacher for a little over 26 years, but before then, I worked in the newspaper biz. I got my first bite of the apple when I was in high school on the staff of the Falcon Free Press at Colfax. I was a rather unremarkable staff advertiser until I took a surprising first place at the California State Write Offs in 1986. Still shocks me to this day. My newspaper career continued when I went to college and interned at The Catholic Herald in Sacramento when I started with putting together the bulletin and notices page and eventually worked on my own stories. It was also the first time I actually saw a talking points memo faxed from the RNC. It was so weird reading paragraph listings of the latest news events and literally in bold lettering the official Republican Party narrative. “Yeah, we don’t publish that,” I remember my editor-in-chief Julie Sly telling me.
When I started my teaching career path, my mentor teacher, Lynn Castiaux, noticed my journalism background and happily assigned me her newspaper class, most of whom were there for the yearbook class. Nonetheless, this was my first ever teaching experience, and I was out to prove I could get these 35 eighth graders to produce a good newspaper. And we did just that, much to the joy of my mentor teacher, the administration, and the students themselves. The Sylvan Star never shined brighter. That was 1996.
Needless to say, journalism has taken a serious hit since then. Venture capitalists have gobbled up newspapers throughout this country—sold them off, shut them down entirely, or have gutted the staff such that a lot of news just goes unreported. And we’re not just talking about national news. Local issues, festivals, arts, classes—all important events that highlight the uniqueness of a community and help it thrive are fragmented.
So where do you go? Well, thankfully for the local flavors you crave, might I suggest a few publications for those of you residing in California or Nevada. In the Humboldt County region, we have NCJ—North Coast Journal which has print publications and a YouTube channel keep the north coast covered on a variety of issues from nation and local politics as well as art, culture, and music.
If you live in the Reno area, try Reno News and Review which is actually a publication of the Coachella Valley Independent. And working back inland and the Bay Area, check out Weeklys, home to several print papers, magazines, and publications from Marin, to the East Bay, to Santa Cruz and Healdsburg. For those who live in the Sacramento Valley, there’s Sacramento News and Review.
I know New Years resolutions are tough to stick by, but I think supporting local journalism is an easy one, especially since it’s a great way to find out what’s going on in your community, connect with your local artisans and find out what’s new in the neighborhood. Like my friends Sarah and Scooter like to say: show up in real life.
That’s it for now! Thanks for reading!
—Keith